Insulating jacket for hot water tanks



July 14, 1931. L. J. HENSHAW 1,813,995

INSULATING JACKET FOR HOT WATER TANKS Filed Feb. 27, 1924 vwe nto'c Patented July 14, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LEWIS J. HENSHAW, F COLLEGE HILL, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE PHILIP CAREY MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION or onro INSULATING JACKET FOR HOT -WATER TANKS M invention relates to insulating jackets for 0t water tanks and is especially addressed to providing insulating means for small household tanks-such as are common- '3 1y used in kitchens.

It provides a jacket which may be readily applied or removed from a tank and repeatedly used.

It provides a jacket which, while having the required insulating qualities, is ornamental and easily kept clean.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a tank improved jacket applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an end view of my improved jacket before application to the tank;

Fig. 3 is a section of a modification.

My improved jacket is composed of a plurality of plies 4, 5, 6 and 7 of felted sheets such as asbestos paper or rag felt or other suitable sheet material, or I may use a combination of asbestos paper and other suitable sheet material. These sheets are built up as hereafter described, and formed into a cyline der having a longitudinal opening on one side-only. In the formation of my jacket I preferably make the inner sheet sothat it will form a close fit to the tank upon which it is used. The next sheet is sufliciently larger than the first so as to leave a small space between the sheets, as shown exaggerated in Figure 2. Each succeeding sheet is correspondingly larger than the one preceding it until the required thickness of jacket has been built up. These sheets or plies are fixedly secured together, along two opposite edges only, by staples or rows of stitches 8 each side of the longitudinal opening in the cylindrical jacket as shown in Fi 2. Throughout the other portions of the acket the sheets are free and can. move independently. To the outer sheet of insulating felted material I preferably cement by any suitable adhesive, such as silicate of soda, a protective and washable sheet, preferably .a woven fabric having a water resisting surface,'such as oil cloth, etc., which passes around the edges of the sheets 4, 5, 6 and 7 at the longitudinal opening and over a small portion of the inner surface of the jacket adjacent to and on both sides of the longitudinal opening.

with my Application filedjebruary 27, 1924. Serial No. 695,562.

The other two edges of the insulating material are left open as shown in Fig. 2. The jacket on both sides of the longitudinal opening is preferably reinforced or stifl'ened so as to assist the jacket in retaining its position on the tank as hereafter stated. This reinforcement may be obtained in any suitable way by stiffening the jacket on each side of the: longitudinal opening. I have found that by my method of fixedly attaching the plies of insulating material to each other by stitching or staples and then bind ing the edges by cementing the protective sheet to both the inner and outer sheets, adja cent to the edges, and along the edges, and

preferably so as to cover the staples or stitches 8, of the longitudinal openin that the jacket is substantially reinforce If desired however a metal binding 10, could be applied to these edges or a narrow strip,

or strips, of metal, Wood, or other suitable reinforcing material, placed adjacent to the edge under the protective washable sheet as shown in Fig. 3.

y improved insulating jacket is placed in position around the tank and by reason of its construction using different size sheets with the smallest on the insideit automatically tends toencircle the tank-the edges of the longitudinal opening are brought together so as to abut and then I place suitable metal bands 2, 2, 2, around the jacket. These bands 2, 2, 2, in conjunction with reinforcement along the edges of the longitudinal opening in the jacket, as described above, hold the jacket fixedly in place against movement or sagging. Afterthe jacket 1, is in place as stated above I may apply to on the tank an insulating cement top 3 which extends even with the outer surface of the jacket 1 and covers the top edge of the jacket. When in place as shown in Fig. 1 the jacket may be readily washed and cleaned without damage to its surface of effect on its insulating quality. It forms an efficient insulator which by reason of its construction, being relatively soft and cushion like, is not liable to damage by being struck.

Claim A cylindrical insulating jacket composed of a plurality of plies forming a unit cylinder, a longitudinal opening in said 0 linder having continuous walls provided y the edges of said plies, stitching passing through the plies at a point adjacent to but not on the edges of said plies, a flexible Waterproof fabric material extending across each of the walls of said opening and overlapping a portion of opposite faces of the jacket to a point beyond the stitching, all so arranged as to provide a reinforced continuous stiffened Wall on opposite side of said opening.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

' LEWIS J. HENSHAW. 

